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Monday October 3, 7:45 AM
FEATURE: The fantastic disappearing plastic, just add water
(Kyodo) _ Every day thousands of people around the world finish off a tray of biscuits or chocolates, and as they throw away the empty packet -- a symbol of the calories consumed --a wave of guilt engulfs them.
If this sounds like you, you are not alone -- and that is the problem. Because while you are mourning your expanding waistline, how often do you spare a thought for the Earth's "waste line?"
Plastic will survive forever in landfill, or, if it is burnt, as it is in Japan, it can release toxic and carcinogenic particles into the atmosphere.
But a small Australian company called Plantic says it has a solution -- just add water and the problem will disappear in front of your eyes.
Plantic markets plastic trays made from plants.
The patented formula comprises 90 percent corn starch and a number of other organic materials, including water, fatty acid and oil.
ADVERTISEMENT
Starch-based plastics are not a new concept, says Plantic's business development manager Mark Fink, but Plantic is different.
"If I do this," he says pouring water on the product, "and count to three it starts to disappear, which is exciting."
Holes start appearing in the plastic biscuit tray.
"It's not dissolving, it's dispersing," says Fink, who compares the end product to the starchy substance left over when you cook rice.
But if you think a disappearing plastic is hard to swallow, have you ever tried eating normal plastic? Because you can eat Plantic.
"If it (Plantic) is eaten - and I eat a lot of it in front of plastics people -- then it's not harmful," says Fink.
"But we don't produce it as a food product, so for that reason we don't eat it in public and we prefer not to promote it as an edible material," he says.
Plantic conforms to the European Standard of biodegradability and its manufacturers are confident it will pass the strict Japanese test when the company makes a move into the Japanese market within the next year.
When placed on the compost heap, Plantic will disappear within three months -- releasing water into the soil and carbon dioxide into the air.
"When you can see that it can actually go away and get recycled into the environment and go back to where it came from -- you know it came from corn -- people can understand that and I think that's what makes this a good product to work with," says Fink.
And of course companies understand the good publicity that such a message brings.
"Every big company in the world has an annual report, and on the fifth or sixth page of every annual report, (is a section) about 'what a wonderful company we are to the environment,'" Fink says.
"But I imagine it's very hard to find stories to write about because in the end most companies aren't focused on the environment, and for that reason we do get a good hearing from senior management," he says.
A disappearing, environmentally friendly plastic may be enough to attract media attention, but it is not the real "wow factor" for companies, however.
The real surprise is its price, and that is where Plantic is ahead of all competition, according to Greg Lonergan, professor of biotechnology at Swinburne University in Melbourne.
Lonergan was involved in the development of the Plantic plastic and he heads a biotechnology group that tests the biodegradability of plastics.
"It's probably the first of the biodegradable (plastics) to get itself truly price competitive and I think that's quite an achievement really," Lonergan says.
Fink too is realistic about the reasons for the success of the product.
"I sell these to our customers in a competitive market -- they could choose plastic or they could choose Plantic," he says. "And although they are responsible environmental citizens, for them price is important. They won't decrease their bottom line significantly to change to this material."
Only 10 grams of corn kernels are needed to make a standard 10 gram biscuit tray and this is good news for Plantic because they do not need to worry about the rise of oil prices as do manufacturers of standard petrochemical-based plastics.
"The long-term pricing of petrochemical (plastics) is slowly increasing over time -- it's a finite resource -- the long-term pricing of crops, starch, is always decreasing," Fink says. "So we think, as time goes on, this is a more sustainable business practice as well as a more sustainable environmental material."
Plantic was developed in the mid-1990s during a seven-year research study into sustainable packaging by the Cooperative Research Centre in Australia. The study was funded by private companies, government departments and several Australian universities.
At the end of the program, a decision was made to commercialize the technology and the publicly listed company Plantic was established.
The company, which comprises 35 people, 10 of whom are technical staff, is based in Melbourne and began operations in 2002 with only four staff members, including Fink.
Since the multinational confectionary company Cadbury-Schweppes first began using a Plantic chocolate tray in 2003, more than 10 companies within Australia have also signed up.
And Fink says eight of the top 10 confectionary companies in the world are trialing the product.
Within the next few months, several European companies are also expected to publicly launch their Plantic packaging, which includes confectionary, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals packaging.
"For a small Australian company, we have a very strong customer base and interactions with some very impressive companies, and (are) being taken very seriously by them," says Fink.
Other starch-based plastics on the market include a plastic bag called Mater-Bi produced by the Italian company Novamont SpA, and plastic bottles and food packaging products made from polylactic acid, developed by the privately owned Cargill Dow LLC in the United States.
The products are both biodegradable, although they are not direct competition for Plantic, Fink says, as each is focused on a different product area, with PLA and Mater-Bi able to resist water more easily.
These plastics need to be composted in an industrial setting and Lonergan also estimates they are from two to three times more expensive than their non-biodegradable alternatives.
But Plantic obviously has its own drawback -- its greatest strength is also its weakness.
"We're developing a more water-resistant version of the tray," says Fink, who admits a tray that disappears in water is good for publicity, but has limited uses.
It is the "Catch-22" for biodegradable plastics, Lonergan says, because to be biodegradable these plastics need to take up water --unlike standard plastics, which repel water -- but they also need to be able to hold water out long enough to have a usable shelf life.
Fink is confident a more water-resistant Plantic product will be available within the year, and it is not the science that is the problem, rather it is creating a cost-competitive product.
Plantic is also in the process of creating a thin-film, like a plastic confectionary wrapper, that will allow companies to use Plantic for their internal and external packaging.
Such products are sure to further boost their production, which has more than doubled in the last year.
And now Plantic has its eyes on the potentially lucrative Japanese market.
It took the opportunity to meet Japanese business leaders in July at the Aichi World Expo where it participated in an Australian government-led trade mission.
"To go to Japan is a big exercise," says Fink, adding, "We have to do it properly, we're doing our research."
Japan, with its environmentally conscious outlook and attraction to all things novel was an obvious market from the start, but Fink says: "For us, Japan is also a very different place and so we have a lot to learn."
He believes Plantic will be seen in Japanese stores within the year, once Plantic has worked out the regulatory requirements and finalized their business strategy.
"It's coming to an exciting time," says an optimistic Fink, "And I'm going to be busy."
For now the small Australian company Plantic is a pioneer in its field, but Fink welcomes the day when it will just be part of the norm and not the exception.
"I'm looking forward to the day when there is enough biomaterial of different sorts in the market that we start competing with another biomaterial," he says. "Because that means the world has changed enough that sustainable plastics are a common thing. That hasn't happened yet, but it will happen."
Monday October 3, 7:45 AM
FEATURE: The fantastic disappearing plastic, just add water
(Kyodo) _ Every day thousands of people around the world finish off a tray of biscuits or chocolates, and as they throw away the empty packet -- a symbol of the calories consumed --a wave of guilt engulfs them.
If this sounds like you, you are not alone -- and that is the problem. Because while you are mourning your expanding waistline, how often do you spare a thought for the Earth's "waste line?"
Plastic will survive forever in landfill, or, if it is burnt, as it is in Japan, it can release toxic and carcinogenic particles into the atmosphere.
But a small Australian company called Plantic says it has a solution -- just add water and the problem will disappear in front of your eyes.
Plantic markets plastic trays made from plants.
The patented formula comprises 90 percent corn starch and a number of other organic materials, including water, fatty acid and oil.
ADVERTISEMENT
Starch-based plastics are not a new concept, says Plantic's business development manager Mark Fink, but Plantic is different.
"If I do this," he says pouring water on the product, "and count to three it starts to disappear, which is exciting."
Holes start appearing in the plastic biscuit tray.
"It's not dissolving, it's dispersing," says Fink, who compares the end product to the starchy substance left over when you cook rice.
But if you think a disappearing plastic is hard to swallow, have you ever tried eating normal plastic? Because you can eat Plantic.
"If it (Plantic) is eaten - and I eat a lot of it in front of plastics people -- then it's not harmful," says Fink.
"But we don't produce it as a food product, so for that reason we don't eat it in public and we prefer not to promote it as an edible material," he says.
Plantic conforms to the European Standard of biodegradability and its manufacturers are confident it will pass the strict Japanese test when the company makes a move into the Japanese market within the next year.
When placed on the compost heap, Plantic will disappear within three months -- releasing water into the soil and carbon dioxide into the air.
"When you can see that it can actually go away and get recycled into the environment and go back to where it came from -- you know it came from corn -- people can understand that and I think that's what makes this a good product to work with," says Fink.
And of course companies understand the good publicity that such a message brings.
"Every big company in the world has an annual report, and on the fifth or sixth page of every annual report, (is a section) about 'what a wonderful company we are to the environment,'" Fink says.
"But I imagine it's very hard to find stories to write about because in the end most companies aren't focused on the environment, and for that reason we do get a good hearing from senior management," he says.
A disappearing, environmentally friendly plastic may be enough to attract media attention, but it is not the real "wow factor" for companies, however.
The real surprise is its price, and that is where Plantic is ahead of all competition, according to Greg Lonergan, professor of biotechnology at Swinburne University in Melbourne.
Lonergan was involved in the development of the Plantic plastic and he heads a biotechnology group that tests the biodegradability of plastics.
"It's probably the first of the biodegradable (plastics) to get itself truly price competitive and I think that's quite an achievement really," Lonergan says.
Fink too is realistic about the reasons for the success of the product.
"I sell these to our customers in a competitive market -- they could choose plastic or they could choose Plantic," he says. "And although they are responsible environmental citizens, for them price is important. They won't decrease their bottom line significantly to change to this material."
Only 10 grams of corn kernels are needed to make a standard 10 gram biscuit tray and this is good news for Plantic because they do not need to worry about the rise of oil prices as do manufacturers of standard petrochemical-based plastics.
"The long-term pricing of petrochemical (plastics) is slowly increasing over time -- it's a finite resource -- the long-term pricing of crops, starch, is always decreasing," Fink says. "So we think, as time goes on, this is a more sustainable business practice as well as a more sustainable environmental material."
Plantic was developed in the mid-1990s during a seven-year research study into sustainable packaging by the Cooperative Research Centre in Australia. The study was funded by private companies, government departments and several Australian universities.
At the end of the program, a decision was made to commercialize the technology and the publicly listed company Plantic was established.
The company, which comprises 35 people, 10 of whom are technical staff, is based in Melbourne and began operations in 2002 with only four staff members, including Fink.
Since the multinational confectionary company Cadbury-Schweppes first began using a Plantic chocolate tray in 2003, more than 10 companies within Australia have also signed up.
And Fink says eight of the top 10 confectionary companies in the world are trialing the product.
Within the next few months, several European companies are also expected to publicly launch their Plantic packaging, which includes confectionary, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals packaging.
"For a small Australian company, we have a very strong customer base and interactions with some very impressive companies, and (are) being taken very seriously by them," says Fink.
Other starch-based plastics on the market include a plastic bag called Mater-Bi produced by the Italian company Novamont SpA, and plastic bottles and food packaging products made from polylactic acid, developed by the privately owned Cargill Dow LLC in the United States.
The products are both biodegradable, although they are not direct competition for Plantic, Fink says, as each is focused on a different product area, with PLA and Mater-Bi able to resist water more easily.
These plastics need to be composted in an industrial setting and Lonergan also estimates they are from two to three times more expensive than their non-biodegradable alternatives.
But Plantic obviously has its own drawback -- its greatest strength is also its weakness.
"We're developing a more water-resistant version of the tray," says Fink, who admits a tray that disappears in water is good for publicity, but has limited uses.
It is the "Catch-22" for biodegradable plastics, Lonergan says, because to be biodegradable these plastics need to take up water --unlike standard plastics, which repel water -- but they also need to be able to hold water out long enough to have a usable shelf life.
Fink is confident a more water-resistant Plantic product will be available within the year, and it is not the science that is the problem, rather it is creating a cost-competitive product.
Plantic is also in the process of creating a thin-film, like a plastic confectionary wrapper, that will allow companies to use Plantic for their internal and external packaging.
Such products are sure to further boost their production, which has more than doubled in the last year.
And now Plantic has its eyes on the potentially lucrative Japanese market.
It took the opportunity to meet Japanese business leaders in July at the Aichi World Expo where it participated in an Australian government-led trade mission.
"To go to Japan is a big exercise," says Fink, adding, "We have to do it properly, we're doing our research."
Japan, with its environmentally conscious outlook and attraction to all things novel was an obvious market from the start, but Fink says: "For us, Japan is also a very different place and so we have a lot to learn."
He believes Plantic will be seen in Japanese stores within the year, once Plantic has worked out the regulatory requirements and finalized their business strategy.
"It's coming to an exciting time," says an optimistic Fink, "And I'm going to be busy."
For now the small Australian company Plantic is a pioneer in its field, but Fink welcomes the day when it will just be part of the norm and not the exception.
"I'm looking forward to the day when there is enough biomaterial of different sorts in the market that we start competing with another biomaterial," he says. "Because that means the world has changed enough that sustainable plastics are a common thing. That hasn't happened yet, but it will happen."
